Mei Fuh: Memories from China

By Edith Schaeffer

Book Overview

On November 3, 1914, Mei Fuh was born in China to two American teachers. Here is Edith Schaeffer's lively memoir of her first five years growing up in southern China. With Mei Fuh we walk along the busy city wall, taste buffalo cream on toast, feel cool breezes from Amah's bamboo fan, inhale the sweet fragrance of oiled paper umbrellas, and hear the deep, sad sound of the ship's horn as it pulls out of Shanghai Harbor, carrying Mei Fuh to her new life in America. Mei Fuh is Edith Schaeffer's poignant tribute to the China of her early years - and a vivid evocation of a curious young girl learning to find herself in her family and in the world.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039572290X
• ISBN13: 9780395722909
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace and Company
• Length: 90 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.2" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Delightful! My girls loved it.

This little book is sweet, but not overly so. Whether it's describing a little girl's love of twirling, the cook eating Mei Fuh's goldfish in her absence, or even a mention of bound feet, Mei Fuh's childish views and descriptions are just delightful. I read a couple/few chapters each night for bedtime stories, and my 6-year-old and 3-year-old asked for "just one more story" every single night. As an adult, I enjoyed the writing and art as much as my girls did. Gentle, happy, and just plain adorable.

An historical, child's view of life in China around 1920

Mei Fuh is a wonderfully illustrated collection of memories of author Edith Shaeffer's childhood in China in the 1920's. She vividly describes the sights, sounds, tastes and smells that are characteristly common to children. China in this era is quite different from the China of today and the descriptions included in this book may generate thoughtful study of the history of this period of history. I would recommend this book for a look into the unusual aspects of childhood experience in China of the 1920's.